SUNY New Paltz named the 40 Under Forty alumni honorees for the 2019 celebration. 

Honorees represent 40 alumni under the age of 40 who earned a SUNY New Paltz undergraduate, graduate, or certifi cate of advanced study degree. The honorees were chosen from a diverse pool of 135 nominees spanning numerous career fi elds, including education, the arts, science, technology, medicine, business, media and government. Honorees are nominated by their peers and faculty members and are selected for their achievements in their careers and communities.

“In our second year, we found that there was no shortage of well-deserving nominees,” said Shana Circe ’02 (Art Education) ’08g (Visual Arts Education), director of alumni relations. “Our alumni continue to be ambitious, innovative, passionate and highly motivated leaders in their fields. They are making signifi cant impacts in their communities both professionally and personally. We are very proud of their achievements and commitment to giving back in this way.”

Finalists were determined by the College’s 40 Under Forty Awards Committee, composed of representatives from the College’s administration, alumni leadership, faculty and staff. An event was held to honor the award recipients on Friday, June 7, at Novellas in New Paltz.

For more information, photos and video visit newpaltz.edu/alumni/40underforty

The SUNY Board of Trustees voted unanimously on March 20, in favor of a resolution to remove and replace the names of six SUNY New Paltz buildings named for original Huguenot patentees of the Village of New Paltz.

The SUNY Board of Trustees is the governing body of the State University of New York. Its vote in favor of this resolution is the final approval needed for the renaming of these buildings to move forward. The SUNY New Paltz College Council voted by a 4-3 margin to approve the resolution to rename the buildings in February.

The new building names, as selected by the SUNY New Paltz College Council at their March 6 meeting, pay homage to local geographic features. They will be assigned to the campus buildings to mirror their actual locations – for instance, Lefevre Hall, the eastern-most of the buildings, will become Shawangunk Hall, because the Shawangunk Ridge is the eastern-most of these features.

• Bevier Hall will become Minnewaska Hall
• Crispell Hall will become Ashokan Hall
• Deyo Hall will become Awosting Hall
• Dubois Hall will become Mohonk Hall
• Lefevre Hall will become Shawangunk Hall
• Hasbrouck Dining Hall will become Peregrine Dining Hall

The new names will be effective at the start of the fall 2019 semester.

“Student government, faculty governance, administrators, the Diversity & Inclusion Council, College Council members and Huguenot descendants engaged each other in one of the most rewarding examples of shared governance I’ve seen,” said President Donald Christian. “Our students were inspired to be part of this process, proud to be part of a campus that was willing to take on such a thorny issue, and learned much about how change can happen.”

Read our story about the Diversity & Inclusion Council here.